States Send Firefighting Help To Washington

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota is among states sending fire crews to the state of Washington to help with wildfires that have caused evacuations and are threatening hundreds of homes.

The Minnesota Incident Command System will send 40 firefighters to the Chiwaukum Creek fire near Levenworth, Washington. They will be there for up to two weeks.

About 1,000 firefighters were fighting blazes around the state that included the Mills Canyon Fire — the state’s largest at 35 square miles.

The Minnesota firefighters will join two crews from Wisconsin and one from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula at the Duluth Mobilization Center. The National Interagency Fire Center is sending a jet to transport the crews from Duluth to Washington Friday.